Helmut Krackowizer

Helmut Krackowizer, 1980, Hockenheim with Velocette

Helmut Krackowizer (born April 29, 1922 in Frankenmarkt , Upper Austria , Austria ; † October 22, 2001 in Salzburg , Austria) was a respected Austrian specialist in motorcycle history. Due to his lifelong passion for the English motorcycle brand Rudge , he was nicknamed "Mister Rudge" by his English friends. His license plate was: S Rudge 1, his life belonged to the motorcycles.

Youth and war years

Helmut Krackowizer was born as the second son of the lawyer Maximilian and Hedwig Krackowizer in Frankenmarkt in Upper Austria. He is the grandson of Otto Scholz, who was a colonel in the Rainer Regiment . In 1924 the family moved to Vöcklabruck , where Krackowizer attended elementary school from 1928 to 1932, then the Stiftsgymnasium Kremsmünster until 1936 and then the grammar school in Gmunden until 1940 . In 1931, at the age of nine, infected by the "virus" of motorcycling while visiting the Gaisbergrennen in Salzburg, he was already in 1939 at the age of seventeen, first in the saddle of an NSU 250 OSL, which he owned together with his brother Otto, then in the saddle of a Norton "International" 500 cc The Unapproachable . During the summer holidays he worked as a teenager in mechanic workshops and attended motorcycle races .

During the Second World War , he bought his first racing motorcycle, a 250cc Rudge racing machine with two valves. This held the five-hour world record on the Brooklands track in England . In March 1939 it was imported from the UK factory to Germany. Guaranteed over 150 km / h top speed , so the description of the seller from Bremen , Germany, of the 2100 Reichsmark expensive motorcycle . Krackowizer took the motorcycle with him to his work stations as far as Breslau ( Poland ), where he packed it in boxes and sent it to his home town of Vöcklabruck. He experienced the end of the war as a fighter control officer of the air intelligence force of a night hunting ( radar ) company in Norway . When the company was handed over to the Norwegians, a Norwegian officer appeared on a motorcycle. Soon he and Krackowizer were engrossed in a "technical discussion" that ended with a test drive by Krackowizer - there was also trust among war opponents. After a short imprisonment, Krackowizer was released on September 7, 1945 and returned to Vöcklabruck.

Racing driver years 1946 to 1955

1946

On October 6th, 1946 he drove his first motorcycle race with the Rudge 250 cm³ in pouring rain at the 1st motorcycle post-war race Salzburg Nonntal in Salzburg - Nonntal and achieved third place.

1947

In the spring of 1947, the first speedway race in Salzburg, organized by the recently founded SAMTC (Salzburg Automobile, Motorcycle and Touring Club), attracted 20,000 spectators to the trotting track in Salzburg-Aigen. Encouraged by this success, the first motorcycle race on the autobahn in Salzburg-Liefering took place on July 6, 1947. In 1958, this round road race became the “Grand Prix of Austria”, which was later moved to the section of the motorway near Salzburg- Grödig and finally to the Salzburgring .

In this race on July 6, 1947, Krackowizer won the junior class A up to 250 cm³ on his Rudge in 44: 32.8 min, followed by Fritz Walcher from Salzburg on New Imperial in 46: 43.4 min and Richart Kwitt on Puch in 46: 43.4 min. The race ran over 15 laps, which corresponded to a distance of 63 kilometers (lap length: 4.2 km). Krackowizer was then three laps ahead in the senior race before he had to retire due to a defect.

This was the beginning of his racing career, which lasted until 1955. 1947 became one of his most successful racing years. He drove u. a. Races in Austria in Rankweil and Lustenau ( Vorarlberg ), Innsbruck at the Hungerburg race, in Graz -Lazarettsiedlung and Ries-Berg, Pötschenpass, as well as in Liechtenstein - Triesenberg . Race results in 1947: three first places, two class records, two second places, two fourth places - Austria's most successful driver in class A up to 250 cm³.

His track record in 1947:

• three first places
• two class records
• two second places
• two fourth places
• Most successful driver in Austria in class A up to 250 cm³

1948

In 1948, Helmut Krackowizer wanted to take part in the Tourist Trophy on the Isle of Man , but failed due to a lack of border documents at the Swiss border. There was only one entry in the program booklet that still exists in his archive today. On Rudge 250 he took 3rd place in the “1. May race “in Salzburg behind the Wiener Radler (Puch) and the Italian Nocchi. In the Ries hill climb near Graz , it was also a 3rd place, again behind Nocchi and Rott (Vienna) on JAP, with a tight time difference of two seconds on the winner and only 2/10 on the runner-up.

1949

Krackowizer wrote about the two races in Switzerland in 1949 :

Erlen: " ... I can still see myself today with my Salzburg friend Volzwinkler , who drove a fast 350 cm³ Norton, at the bottom of the starting line because we didn't know the unusual way of starting with the flag from the bottom up. We drove Then in the rain like berserk after the vanished field, and as far as my person is concerned, I was immensely surprised when I caught up with one competitor after the other and suddenly even Fergus Anderson , who was driving a new AJS "Boy Racer", was behind me But then the clutch began to slip and since at that time there were no Bowden cables that could be adjusted manually when driving, I gave up the race, lying in about fifth place, because the water was already running out of my boots anyway ... "

The second start in Switzerland in Olten didn't bring him any luck either. Once again delayed from the start, he threaded his Velocette 350 KTT MK VIII (which he had bought from racing driver Franz-Josef Binder ) like a slalom runner on a row of drivers lying in front of him, before he braked himself in a curve and again on wooden boards found. The carburetor needle had been thrown out of its clamp, and when he opened the twist grip it only lifted the slide but not the carburetor needle - he had to give up the race.

These two ideas did not seem to have gone unnoticed by the organizers of the 1950 race in Bern Bremgarten, because they kindly refused Krackowizer's registration.

Successes in Austria in 1949: Korneuburg road race : 2nd place behind cyclists, Dornbirn road race : 2nd place in the compressor class with his "normal" 250er Rudge, as well as two second places in the 350 cm³ and 500 cm³ classes on the Velocette 350, the he drove since March of that year. At the international road race in Rankweil he took 5th place and was the second best Austrian behind Anderson, Volzwinkler, Nocchi and Roland.

From 1950

In the following years he drove abroad with varying degrees of success. B. in Erlen and Olten (Switzerland), at the Schauinsland hill climb , Ingolstadt and at the Norisring in Nuremberg and at the Hockenheimring (all in Germany). In addition, Krackowizer took part in competition drives and mountain races in Austria.

After the surprisingly early death of his father in 1951, who was a lawyer in Vöcklabruck, he had to limit himself to racing in Austria. In Vöcklabruck he ran a motorcycle dealership. In addition to road races with motorcycles, he also took part in scooter races with a Lohner scooter (e.g. in Linz), as well as multi-day alpine tours with small motorcycles. Over the years he drove various motorcycle brands: Rudge 250 cm³, Velocette KTT MK VIII 350 cm³, BSA "Gold Star" 350 cm³, Lohner-Scooter, Norton "Dominator" 500 cm³, AJS, Puch u. a. In 1955 he ended his active racing career. It was not until 1973 that he took part in the motor veteran event (albeit at racing speed).

Professional career

In autumn 1947 he began studying at the University of World Trade. His professional career took him through his business diploma in 1951 at the Vienna University of Economics, a year later to the title of Doctor of Economics, to the Eternit works in Hatschek in Vöcklabruck and in 1955 to Porsche in Salzburg as head of advertising and press. In this role, Krackowizer organized a world record attempt in 1964 with a VW 1500 on the track in Monza in Italy . Four world records were set with the production model.

He later moved to Mercedes-Benz (1964) and then to British Leyland (1969). Most recently, from 1976, he worked as a public relations manager at Chrysler (then renamed Talbot , finally merged with Peugeot ) until his retirement in 1987.

Journalistic activity

Krackowizer was already writing for newspapers while he was a racing driver. In 1954, at the invitation of NSU, ​​he was on the road at the Hockenheimring in the saddle of a factory NSU racing machine, the so-called Rennfox; he also tested a 250 cc KTM racing. So he began to write driving reports about motorcycles on behalf of motorcycle companies and importers.

In addition, he was the speaker at many races that were still allowed at the time: hill climb on the Gaisberg near Salzburg, near Engelhartszell on the Danube , on Gmundner Berg, at the "May 1st race" on the autobahn near Salzburg and the like. v. a.

In the 1960s, Krackowizer began to draw. He drew large-format motorbikes with pencils based on original designs. About 15 art print portfolios "Motorcycle Milestones" with four historic racing motorcycles each were created. He has also written books about the history of motorcycles and motorcycle races and articles for specialist newspapers in German and English-speaking countries.

Most of his books are out of print. The two books "TOEFF Land Schweiz" and "TOEFF Land Schweiz 2" are still available in specialist shops.

The "motorcycle professor"

After retiring from active racing in 1955, he began tracking down historic motorcycles across Europe. He kept some of these finds, had them restored, exchanged and resold them. In 1967 he founded one of the first motor veterans clubs in Austria. In 1976, Krackowizer was also president of the Austrian Motor Veterans Association for a short time.

Helmut Krackowizer knew almost every historical motorcycle in detail, knew how to tell the stories of rare motorcycles and the résumés of racing drivers. His friends included u. a. Sammy Miller , John Surtees , Walter Zeller , Luigi Taveri , Hans Haldemann , Schorsch Meier , and many others from the motor racing scene. Of course he was a member of the Rudge Club in England.

He fulfilled a lifelong dream with the great motor veteran races on the Salzburgring, the "Oldtimer Grand Prix", which took place every year between 1975 and 1994. Stars like Niki Lauda , Juan Manuel Fangio and the racing drivers mentioned above came to this veteran race for historic automobiles and motorcycles. Well over 100 automobiles and up to 300 motorcycles came to this event every year. Mercedes-Benz sent the famous Silver Arrows to Salzburg.

Krackowizer got into the saddle of motorcycles himself and took part in various veteran events. So also in 1973 at the Nürburgring on a Sunbeam 90 - built in 1929 - he was the overall winner. In 1990 he finally drove a lap of honor on the course on the Isle of Man as part of the Tourist Trophy at the so-called Lap of Honor in the saddle of an ex- Wal-Handley - Rudge . Until 1999, at the age of 77, he still actively participated in veterans' events.

Austrian motorcycle literature and picture archive

In the course of his life, Krackowizer has not only collected motorcycles, but also images, magazines and newspapers, books and other documentations about the history of motorcycles, motorcycle racers , motorcycle racetracks and races. Countless manuscripts and his own photo material of his journalistic activities have been preserved.

Functions in motorsport

• Active motorcycle racer from 1947 to 1955
• Between 1946 and 1990 three times race director at the "May 1st race in Salzburg - Liefering
• From 1952 to 1975 national and international timekeeper of the OSK , FIM and FIA , eight years chief timekeeper of the Supreme Sports Commission, OSK, for Upper Austria and Salzburg
• Founder of the Motor Veteranen Club Salzburg in 1967, the third club in Austria

Works

• Helmut Krackowizer: Milestones in motorcycle history , Gondrom Verlag, Bindlach 1995, 140 pages, ISBN 3-8112-1271-0
• Helmut Krackowizer, Klaus Fischer and Hans Haldemann: TOEFF Land Schweiz , SERAG AG Verlag, Pfäffikon, 1992, ISBN 3-908007-72-5
• Helmut Krackowizer with Klaus Fischer: TOEFF Land Schweiz 2 , SERAG AG Verlag, Pfäffikon, 2000, ISBN 3-908007-87-9

Web links

• Motorcycle literature and image archive Prof. Dr. Helmut Krackowizer

swell

• Die Auto-Österreicher, pioneer of mobility , Martin Pfundner, 2006, A & W Verlag GmbH Klosterneuburg, ISBN 3-200-00517-3
• Motorcycle culture , reprint of the Salzburg Museum Carolino Augusteum on the occasion of MotorradKult (ur) 1900–1970 in memoriam Prof. Dr. Helmut Krackowizer, 2001
• auto revue, 5/1997, p. 74 ff: Herr Hofrad
• Gummikuh , October 15, 1992, p. 50 ff: The fast Rudge from Bremen
• austro classic, 6/2001, pp. 6 and 7: Good bye, Professor
• Oldtimer Markt, 12/2001, p. 193: The motorcycle professor
• Motorrad Classic , 1/2002, p. 64: Servus Helmut
• handwritten résumés from July 23, 1978 and April 29, 1990
• Article about Helmut Krackowizer in the motorcycle literature and image archive Prof. Dr. H. Krackowizer in Salzburg
• www.technischesmuseum.at Helmut Krackowizer

Individual evidence

1. ↑ which fell near Stalingrad in World War II
2. ↑ "the unreachable", due to its motor performance, this English motorcycle was long considered the fastest in the world
3. ↑ according to stories from Helmut Krackowizer to his son Peter Krackowizer, who made this entry here
4. ↑ At that time it was still possible to compete in a higher class with a machine with a smaller displacement.